The perception that arts is a dead end when it comes to job generation is changing.
This view was expressed by Allison Thompson, senior tutor in the Division of Fine Arts of the Barbados Community College, during the launch of the Portfolio 2012 Exhibition at the college Monday evening.
“A lot of our students go into all sorts of fields,” said Thompson.
“If you went to any graphic design or advertising firm in Barbados, you would find graduates from our programme. If you went into any art programme in a secondary school and [in] many of the primary schools, you would find [our] graduates.”
Thompson said there were other “lateral fields” such as interior, fashion and product design to which students gravitated.
“But I think more than that, what studies have shown [is that] “we produce creative thinkers who start to think innovatively. What we are finding now, is that sense of innovation as well as general lifeskills that [evolve] into self-assurance and confidence that will serve [the students in any field],” said Thompson.
Forty-five students of the arts programme at the BCC launched their exhibition which was addressed by Minister of Culture Stephen?Lashley, who said there was greater scope for employment in the arts arena.
“Other countries, having packaged and marketed their arts globally, are reaping the economic benefits. We too need to recognize the importance of art and cultural goods and services for their intrinsic [and] economic value,” said Lashley.
The minister said the Community College must continue to create an environment for the development of artists because of the future demand for cultural practitioners.
He said the ministry had partnered with BCC in opening the National Art Gallery Documentation Centre. The centre houses books, catalogues, DVDs, online resources and personal archives available to students and the public.
The minister also mentioned the help given to art student Sheena Rose to exhibit at the Havana Biennal Art?Exhibition. (JS)
